Bhai Phonta 2026: date and time in Bangladesh

Bhai Phonta 2026 falls on Wednesday, 24 Kartik 1433 by the panjika (11 November 2026). It is Bhratri Dwitiya, the second day of the bright fortnight of Kartik, when sisters mark their brothers' foreheads with a phonta and pray for their long life.

The Beni Madhab Sil Full Panjika gives the rite while Dwitiya lasts, before 2:41 PM Bangladesh time. This year that makes Wednesday morning the practical time for the phonta. All times in this post are Bangladesh time.

Bhai Phonta 2026 at a glance

• Bhai Phonta: Wednesday, 24 Kartik 1433 (11 November 2026).
• Time for the phonta, traditional reckoning: before 2:41 PM on 11 November.
• Dwitiya, traditional reckoning: 10 November 1:07 PM to 11 November 2:41 PM.
• Dwitiya, drik reckoning: 10 November 2:30 PM to 11 November 4:23 PM.
• Worship of Yama: at midday on 11 November in the Goswami tradition; the panjika gives no separate clock time for it.

The traditional times are from the Beni Madhab Sil Full Panjika 1433, page for 24 Kartik. The panjika prints Indian time, "দিবা ঘ ২।১১ মধ্যে ভ্রাতৃদ্বিতীয়াকৃত্য (ভাইফোঁটা)", the Bhai Phonta rite before 2:11 PM; the times here are 30 minutes later, in Bangladesh time. The start of Dwitiya is as Aaj Tak Bangla reported it from the same panjika. The drik times are from the MandirBD panjika.

10 or 11 November?

Dwitiya begins on the afternoon of 10 November, which is why some people take 10 November as Bhai Phonta. But the Beni Madhab Sil panjika places Bhratri Dwitiya on the next day, Wednesday, 11 November, when Dwitiya holds from the morning to the early afternoon. By the figures published in West Bengal, the Bishuddha Siddhanta panjika also puts Bhai Phonta on 11 November, and Drik Panchang does the same for Dhaka.

The Bengali date can look different from one calendar to another: 24 Kartik in the traditional reckoning (Beni Madhab Sil, the MandirBD panjika), 25 Kartik in Drik Panchang's Bishuddha Siddhanta mode, and 26 Kartik in Bangladesh's national calendar. The English date is the same everywhere: Wednesday, 11 November.

What the panjika prescribes

For this day the Beni Madhab Sil panjika lists the worship of Yama, Yamuna, Chitragupta and Yama's messengers, an offering of water to Yama, the sister's worship of her brother, the customary tilak on the brother's forehead, and the brother's gift of clothes and the like to his sister. It also says the brother should eat from his sister's hand.

Customs vary from house to house, but the heart of it is the same: sisters, many of them fasting, put a sandalwood phonta on their brothers' foreheads, then feed them and exchange gifts. The full rules and the story of Yama and Yamuna are in our Bengali post on what Bhai Phonta is and how it is kept.

The Bhai Phonta rhyme

The Beni Madhab Sil panjika prints the rhyme sisters say while giving the phonta, under the heading "a Bengali saying current on Bhratri Dwitiya". Its first lines run "ভায়ের কপালে দিলাম ফোঁটা, যমের দুয়ারে পড়লো কাঁটা": I put the phonta on my brother's forehead, and a thorn falls at Yama's door. As Yamuna marks Yama, so the sister marks her brother; as Yama is deathless, so may her brother live long. The wording varies from family to family; say it the way your home always has. The full rhyme, as printed, is in the Bengali version of this post.

A working Wednesday: plan for the morning

Bhai Phonta is not on Bangladesh's 2026 government holiday list, not even among the nine optional holidays for Hindus. Wednesday, 11 November is an ordinary working day. Since the traditional time for the phonta also ends at 2:41 PM, the easiest plan is a phonta in the morning, before office or school.

Three days earlier, on the night of Sunday, 21 Kartik (8 November), come Kali Puja and Dipavali; the times and customs are on our Kali Puja page.

Questions and answers

When is Bhai Phonta in 2026?

Wednesday, 24 Kartik 1433 by the panjika (11 November 2026).

What is the time for the phonta?

By the Beni Madhab Sil panjika, before 2:41 PM on 11 November (Bangladesh time), while Dwitiya lasts. By the drik reckoning Dwitiya lasts until 4:23 PM. Follow the panjika your family keeps.

Is it on 10 or 11 November?

11 November. Dwitiya begins on the afternoon of 10 November, which causes the confusion, but both the Beni Madhab Sil and the Bishuddha Siddhanta panjikas give Bhai Phonta on Wednesday, 11 November.

Is Bhai Phonta a holiday in Bangladesh?

No. It is not on the 2026 government list, general or optional, so 11 November is a working day.

Read more

• Bhai Phonta on MandirBD
• Bhai Phonta 2026: date and time (in Bengali)
• What Bhai Phonta is and how it is kept (in Bengali)
• Kali Puja 2026

Sources

• Beni Madhab Sil Full Panjika 1433, page for 24 Kartik (printed page, Indian time): the Bhai Phonta rite before ঘ ২।১১, the day's prescriptions and the Bhratri Dwitiya rhyme.
• Drik Dwitiya: MandirBD panjika, 24 Kartik 1433 (11 November 2026) (in Bengali).
• Start of Dwitiya and the date confusion: Aaj Tak Bangla, 22 October 2026 (in Bengali).
• The Bishuddha Siddhanta date: Aaj Tak Bangla, 14 October 2026; TV9 Bangla, October 2026 (in Bengali).
• Dhaka date and Bengali calendar: Drik Panchang, Dhaka; Drik Panchang, Bengali panjika, 11 November.
• The custom of the phonta: Banglapedia, Bhratri Dwitiya (in Bengali).
• Government holiday list 2026: Jugantor, 9 November 2025; Dhaka Mail, 10 November 2025 (in Bengali).

Keep the time of the phonta by the panjika your family or temple follows.